Empty street in BrisbaneImage: AFP / Archives / Patrick HAMILTON
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The Australian metropolis of Brisbane is lifting the express lockdown it had imposed after a three-day period due to an infection with the coronavirus mutation first discovered in Great Britain. In mass tests in Brisbane, no further corona cases had been discovered in the past few days, as the head of government of the state of Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk, announced on Monday.
Palaszczuk defended the hastily imposed lockdown on the city of two million in the north-east of the country. It was “definitely not an overreaction”. The tough measures were imposed on Friday after a cleaning worker tested positive for the virus mutation at a hotel where returning travelers are quarantined.
During the lockdown, the cleaner’s contacts were tracked and tens of thousands of people were tested in Australia’s third largest city. The lockdown should now be lifted again on Monday at 6 p.m. local time.
The new mutation was first discovered in south-east England. Initial studies suggest that variant B.1.1.7 could be up to 70 percent more contagious than the earlier forms of the virus.
Australia has so far got through the pandemic relatively lightly. So far, around 28,600 infections and around 900 deaths have been recorded in the country.
© 2021 AFP
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